An increasingly popular type of technology for providing information to clients over a network is known as “streaming media.” In general, streaming media presents data (e.g., typically audio and/or video) to a client in a streaming or continuous fashion. That is, with streaming media a client is not required to receive all of the information to be presented before the presentation begins. Rather, presentation of information in a streaming media file may begin before the entire file is received by the client, and as the received portion of the file is being presented, further portions of the file continue to be received by the client for later presentation.
Streaming media is a particularly popular technique for communicating audio and/or video files from a server to a client. Audio and video files tend to be quite large, even after being compressed. If streaming media is not used, an entire file is generally required to be downloaded to a client before the client can begin to play the file. Such a download may require an undesirably long delay before the client can begin playing the file. With streaming media (e.g., streaming audio or streaming video), a client is not required to wait until the entire file is downloaded to play it. Instead, the client can begin playing the file (e.g., presenting the video and/or audio to a user) while it downloads to the client.
Streaming media may be used for any of a number of purposes, including entertainment, distance learning and corporate purposes. Entertainment companies stream movies, music, and sporting events, distance learning companies stream educational content, and corporations stream training materials, presentations and commercials. Furthermore, a media stream can be on demand or live. On demand streams are stored on a server for a long period of time, and are available to be transmitted at a user's request. Live streams are only available at one particular time, for example, as in a video stream of a live sporting event.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional system 100 for streaming media is illustrated. Generally, a live video source 102 is broadcasted via a broadcast center. The video source or feed is input as raw video to encoding servers 104, which encode the video. The encoding servers 104 encrypt and compress the raw video feed, so that it is protected with DRM (digital rights management) and also is lighter in size on the network. Acquisition servers 106 then acquire the encoded video for distribution. The encoded video is then passed onto streaming media servers 108 for streaming the video to at least one user 110. A user 110 may initiate the streaming of video by logging into or making a request at portal 112. The portal 112 then forwards the user's request to the streaming media server 108 which then streams the live video to the user 110. The user 110 will then watch the video with an appropriate media player. In addition, the user 100 may request a streaming news feed 116 from a second source to be viewed at, for example, a client computer.
However, a need exists for techniques for controlling the streaming media when a particular user requests several streams concurrently.